How do you transmit a cold to others

Many people will ask: "How can a cold be transmitted to others?" There is often a misunderstanding in these people's minds, that is, they think that after transmitting the cold to others, their own cold will be cured. In fact, this idea is totally wrong. The cycle and incubation period of a cold often give people this illusion. Here we will scientifically tell you why this idea is wrong.

Why is the result correct?

When a cold is cured, the symptoms generally disappear. Most people's cold symptoms last about a week. For influenza, it usually takes 1-4 days from the emergence of the virus to the onset of symptoms. The contagious period may start one day before symptoms appear and last 5 to 7 days after symptoms appear. So it just creates the illusion that you have infected others and your cold has recovered at this time.

So the result is approximately correct, but for the wrong reason. If the spread of colds follows the relay law of "infect others and you will get better", then the total number of people with colds in the world should remain constant, because for every person who spreads the disease, one person will inevitably recover.

Why is thinking wrong?

Colds in the medical sense are caused by viruses. It can be divided into common cold and influenza. The former is caused by multiple viruses, and the latter is caused by three specific types of influenza viruses (type A, type B and type C). Simply catching a cold will not cause a cold. The characteristic of viruses is their ability to replicate themselves. Therefore, after a patient is infected with a cold, the number of viruses in the body is dynamic, with viruses constantly dying or being eliminated and new viruses being replicated. The virus that the patient transmits to others is only a part of the virus in his body, rather than being completely passed away like a baton. The virus still exists in the body. Therefore, after a cold patient transmits the virus to others, whether he can recover depends on whether he can defeat the virus in his own body.

Besides, when we say “the cold is cured”, we mean that the symptoms of the cold (fever, runny nose, cough, etc.) have disappeared. At this time, there may still be cold viruses in the body, but the viruses are not strong enough to cause people to show the aforementioned symptoms. A strong person can be infected with the virus and eliminate it without showing any symptoms and catching a cold without even realizing it.